1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to networks and, more particularly, to data transmission over networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet or the World Wide Web is a global network of interconnected computers. Clients or users can access files or documents, e.g., hypermedia documents, residing on host website computers connected to the Internet through a network browser interface program. Examples of network browser interface program include Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer. One type of hypermedia documents is commonly referred to as web pages. Sites (websites) or documents on the Internet are typically chosen by a user by entering a site address, i.e., a URL (uniform resource locator), or by a selection of a link on a displayed web page. The links are typically associated with an HyperText Markup Language (HTML) environment and can be represented by an image, icon, or text label in a web page.
Unfortunately, due to the increased popularity of the Internet and due to the increase in file size of web pages, traffic and congestion on the Internet continue to increase. One reason why web pages being requested are get larger is due the increased use graphic components by websites. It is becoming increasing popular for websites to utilize media-rich web pages. The more media-rich a web page is, the larger its size. Hence, media-rich web pages lead to increased traffic and congestion burdens on various aspects of the Internet and servers coupled thereto. Conventional solutions to these traffic or congestion problems have caused website owners to increase the number of servers they operate and have caused website owners to lease additional bandwidth for coupling their servers to the Internet, both of which are expensive solutions.
The increases in the file sizes of web pages also burdens the clients (users) of client machines attempting to obtain web pages from servers over the Internet. Given that client machines couple to the Internet over bandwidth-limited links, clients face increasing delays. Typically, the bandwidth-limited links are provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Examples of the links include plain old telephone (POT) line, ISDN line, DSL line, or cable line. While some links support more bandwidth, the additional bandwidth comes at a cost to the clients. Regardless, of the link, as the size of web pages get larger, the longer it takes to download the files to the client machine. Hence, as files (e.g., web pages) become larger (e.g., more media rich), the longer they take to be downloaded to the client machines. While media-rich web pages offer great ability to hold users' interest, download delays frustrate users and can cause loss of traffic to websites.
Therefore, there is a need for improved techniques for efficiently and economically delivering web pages to client machines.